DENVER -- Madison Bumgarner has very little use for the quality start statistic. Six innings and three earned runs are never what he sets out to accomplish, but on Tuesday night he was just fine with his final line.
Bumgarner went six, allowed three, struck out eight and picked up the win as the Giants crushed the Rockies 14-4. After a weekend in Cincinnati that chewed up the starting staff, he set the tone and stuck around threw 102 pitches at Coors Field.
"You take a win any way you can get them here," he said.
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The Giants needed a performance like that, and Bumgarner allowed Bruce Bochy to use just one -- Tony Watson -- of his late-inning guys. Trevor Gott pitched the eighth and Williams Jerez made his Giants debut in the ninth. The bullpen is now back in good shape despite a heavy workload against the Reds.
Bumgarner is getting back to his old self, too, following an up-and-down April. After averaging 90.9 mph with his fastball in his first six starts, Bumgarner has averaged 92 in each of his past two starts. He maxed out at 93.4 mph last week against the Dodgers and on Tuesday hit 93 five times in the thin air. Once again, the cutter was along for the ride. A week after he averaged 87.4 mph with the pitch, Bumgarner was at 87.2.
"He's hitting his stride," Bochy said. "He's been a little bit of a slow starter, so my hope is now we're in May and he's finding his game."
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San Francisco Giants
--- The main story last night was Mac Williamson, who hit a homer and drove in four runs in his return to the big league club. And if you missed it earlier, here are his strong comments on moving the bullpen mounds. Farhan Zaidi saw the quotes as he was coming to the ballpark and said he appreciates that players are speaking up, and that hopefully it helps fans understand any potential changes.
Zaidi also said that, realistically, the earliest the Giants could move the mounds is this offseason.
--- The Giants scored 13 runs with two outs. That's a San Francisco-era record. The 14 runs marked a season-high.
--- Three of the 16 hits came from Joe Panik, who is starting to find it a little bit. He quietly has put together an eight-game hitting streak, raising his average 41 points.